ANNAPOLIS — A Montgomery County delegate wants the state to examine whether to make marijuana more accessible for medicinal purposes.
Del. Henry B. Heller says concern for the safety of the elderly or impaired patients who might need to obtain marijuana is driving the issue. He wants a state task force to study a law on the books that allows anyone charged with possession or use of marijuana to introduce evidence in court related to medical necessity; that law limits any penalty to $100.
The task force also would explore whether the medical schools at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland should establish research programs to study the medical and social issues relating to medical marijuana.
via – Montgomery Gazette “Delegate wants medical marijuana law review” 3/27/09
Good news for medical marijuana patients in the Free State! You can get in touch with your representatives by hitting NORML’s Contact Maryland Officials page.
One of the greatest resources I’ve found on Norml is the newspaper contacts for each state.
While it’s imperative we contact our legislators in order to educate and admonish them, it’s also important we get our message into the newspapers they read.
Here is Maryland’s: http://www.norml.org//index.cfm?Group_ID=4542&wtm_view=media
As Judge Harry Pregerson said in the Raich v Gonzales appeal; “For the time being, this issue remains in the arena of public debate and legislative action”. And he’s right, we need to debate this issue *publicly*.